


Clarity

by saisei



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Addiction, Blind Character, Caffeine Addiction, Dubious Consent, M/M, Sex for payment, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, World of Ruin, stress management
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:35:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saisei/pseuds/saisei
Summary: When Niflheim stops exporting coffee to Lucis, Ignis has to turn to other means to stay alert.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia, Ignis Scientia/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44
Collections: Darkest Night 2020





	Clarity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lagerstatte](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lagerstatte/gifts).



After the Assassin's Festival, there was no more coffee in Lestallum. Ignis asked, discretely at first and then more frantically, whether more could be expected in future. He was told that exports from Insomnia had stopped, and Niflheim was keeping all their beans for the home market.

Shopkeepers and cafes offered him herbal teas. He called Coctura and tried, as hard as he could, to be subtle despite his growing anxiety and shaking hands. She said the same thing, only with more disdain for the instant and canned varieties.

Ignis had spent years as an overworked student; he knew he had options, unsavory as they were. He felt terribly guilty trading one of the silver cufflinks his grandfather had left him – not only was he squandering his inheritance, but the money wasn't even being used to assist Noct. Still, these were desperate times, and after inquiries at each and every one of the local pharmacies he'd found the very last bottle of over-the-counter caffeine pills. The local populace, it seemed, had predicted the coffee shortage.

He thought this supply would last at least until they reached Altissia, but he hadn't considered just how very necessary clarity of mind was. He needed at least one pill if Noct wanted him to drive through the night and be alert while the others dozed; dungeons, of course, were no place to deal with the ice-pick stab of a headache and exhausted brain fog. Even when all he'd had was coffee, he'd relied on that hit of energy in order to be up first, go to bed last, and get through the various trials of the day.

Nevertheless, he was frustrated the next time they were in town, when he was down to the last two pills. None of the shops had _anything_ , and when he made reasonable inquiries the shopkeepers eyed him with suspicion, as if he were an addict.

Which in the end worked to his advantage: at one dingy, bare-shelved apothecary, he was given directions to an unmarked shopfront, down a narrow dark alley, were he was told to ask for Dar.

He took the precaution of not wearing anything that suggested he worked for the Crown, and he went with his hair down and wore his backup glasses. Dar was muscular, with a full beard and a shaven head, and he was friendly in a predatory way. He knew he had the advantage.

Ignis wasn't intimidated, naturally. He was simply there to make a purchase, and he could walk away.

He offered the other cufflink as payment, which Dar seemed to find amusing.

"I got plenty of trinkets," he said. "You any good with your mouth?"

Ignis' breath caught in his throat. Gladio was quite fond of his mouth, but he didn't want to think about him here, in this place. They'd been very careful over the years not to label what they had a relationship, because that would mean thinking about the implications. There'd been no discussion of monogamy; why would there be? They were simply colleagues with an arrangement.

Not so different from what Dar was offering.

"Perhaps," Ignis said.

Dar gave him a look. "So – get on your knees, then."

The door wasn't locked. The floor was not just dirty but sticky. Dar's cock was thick and half hard when Ignis took it out, and reached its full length in his mouth. Hardly as challenging as Gladio's was. Ignis had been quite intimidated the first time he'd slid his lips around his cockhead, but with familiarity he attained a good bit of skill.

He didn't share that with Dar, of course; he tried to give the blowjob with enough clumsiness to suggest inexperience. Dar's response to that was to grab Ingis' hair and fuck his mouth until he came while rammed down his throat.

Ignis was coughing as he got to his feet, and feeling a bit nauseus. He was glad he wasn't turned on; sordid though it was, this was simply a business transaction, after all. Dar gave him an unlabeled bottle of pills and sent him on his way.

Ignis took the first one two days later, using the excuse of a hunt they'd picked up, and not his own irritability and inability to concentrate. The pill kicked in like the sun reappearing from behind stormclouds, bringing the world into clarity and restoring his even temper and sense of humor. He felt _alive_.

He didn't sleep for three days.

The downside of the pills was that he wanted another the very instant the first wore off. He knew that was a very bad sign indeed, but he didn't have the time to search for another solution. The next time they stopped in Lestallum, he paid another visit to Dar, even though the first bottle wasn't entirely empty. He didn't want to risk running out.

They departed Lucis for Altissia on a gorgeous, picture-postcard of a day. Prompto took pictures on board the yacht and of the scenery; they ate dinner at the legendary Maagho and were served cups of ambrosial after-dinner coffee; and they stayed in the royal suite in the Leville, which was spacious enough that Ignis and Gladio were able to bathe together and then spend the night taking each other slowly apart in a way they hadn't been able to enjoy since leaving Insomna. Gladio had a way of making Ignis wild for him and then pinning him down so he couldn't do anything but writhe under the pleasure Gladio stoked.

Ignis was tired and sore in the morning, but he was still able to prepare Noct for his meeting with Camelia Claustra, and then liaise with Altissia's civil guard to discuss evacuation routes and emergency services, should the ritual at the altar go awry. 

Which it did, disaster upon disaster. Desperation drove Ignis to put on the Ring of the Lucii and plea with them for the strength he needed to save Noct; their voices in his head were scornful, but like Dar that was simply a trial to be endured. The power that the Lucii bestowed on him was enough to hold Ardyn back from murdering Noct as well as Luna. Ignis could feel his physical body burning away, but he fought until he was spent, and slipped into darkness.

He woke with his burns healed, if nastily scarred over, and his eyesight gone. Even after Noct woke, they stayed in Altissia for weeks, and Ignis was aware that this was his opportunity to break the hold of the pills once and for all. If he had trouble sleeping or snapped at people, his injuries were the obvious reason.

But he couldn't bring himself to waste that precious time lying in bed, curled around his cramping stomach while his head throbbed and he sweated out all his stupidity. He needed to be able to hold his own in a fight... and dress himself properly, and eat without spilling food down his shirt.

Their journey through Tenebrae and Niflheim was excruciating, one loss after another, culminating in a pathetic return to Lucis with neither victory nor Noct nor hope. Ignis told himself that at least he had the comfort of not having to see the disappointment and fear on people's faces when they realized the world was going to slip into perpetual daemon-haunted darkness.

He ran out of pills shortly after they landed in Caem. If his agitation and distress were visible – he did his best to hide them, but he certainly wasn't capable of seeing if his own pallor gave him away – no one mentioned it. Without a car, they were forced to accept rides with strangers, and Ignis slept or pretended to sleep, his throbbing head resting against the coolness of the window.

They needed to save money, so Gladio arranged lodging with hunter friends of Dave's on the outskirts of Lestallum. Ignis nearly shook with impatience: he was so close to relief, to being able to think clearly and push himself past his limits, but he could hardly say he needed to go into town by himself for the day. Prompto would volunteer to go with him, or Gladio would suggest that he come along and they meet up with Iris for lunch.

An opportunity to visit the market for a weekly shop finally arose, and Ignis spent the trip into town visualizing the route to Dar's shop. He would not, he vowed, stumble into the wrong turn or trip down a staircase. He would walk with confidence, so no one grabbed him by the arm and offered guidance. He'd be back in the market before his absence was even noted.

He hadn't taken into account how disorienting the press of people around him was, how a raised voice could make him lose track of how many paces he'd walked. But he could see the route clearly in his head, and found himself turning down the alley with a sense of relief, fingers trailing along the wall to find the doorway.

Dar came out to the front of the shop when the battered bell over the door rang, and Ignis faced him with as neutral an expression as he could muster.

"I would like to continue our usual arrangement," Ignis said, addressing the rustle of clothing he heard in the darkness.

"What did you do to your face?" Dar sounded repulsed. "Take those glasses off."

Ignis did so.

"I'm not sticking my dick in that," Dar said. "I like my men pretty."

Ignis had not cried over his injuries, but the blunt dismissal put a lump in his throat, a chill of devastation spreading throughout him. If he had any dignity left, he'd turn and walk out the door, but he couldn't make himself do that.

After a long moment when the air seemed to grow denser and harder to choke down, Dar snorted and slapped his hand down on the long front counter. "Bend over here."

He didn't tell Ignis to lower his trousers; he didn't need to. They both knew what the deal was.

He fucked Ignis with just spit, the drag of the hot length of his dick like a brand as he pounded him into the counter. Ignis could feel bruises rising on his hips, his stomach, his thighs; he had to push back into Dar's thrusts to keep his own dick and balls from being crushed against the wood. Part of him was dizzy and wanted to slip into a sleeplike trance, another was buffeted by sensory detail. The smell of dust and mold, old books; distant footsteps on a wooden floor; the drip of sweat onto his lower back and buttocks; the pain of being used this way, and of knowing he'd subject himself to this again, out of necessity.

Dar's pace grew erratic, and he grabbed Ignis' hips and yanked them back, slamming them snug against his own until he came, as deep inside Ignis as he could.

He held Ignis like that, as he panted like a bellows over him and sweat dripped down, until he'd emptied himself, and then he stepped back. "I'll get you your stuff," he said, and left Ignis to pull himself together.

Pull up his trousers and fasten them, put his glasses on, find his cane where he'd leaned it against the counter. Convince himself that he didn't look as if he'd just been fucked and he wouldn't wince from the pain as he walked away. He wasn't sure how he'd explain the bruises, but he knew something would come to him as soon as he'd taken a pill.

Dar brought out the bottle and set it on the counter, making Ignis grope for it. Ignis thanked him anyway, and made his slow limping way over to the door, and out into the alley.

"Hey, Iggy," Gladio said.

Ignis' blood turned to ice in his veins.

He very nearly said _I can explain_ , but... Gladio had probably seen – and heard – enough to have a good enough understanding.

So instead he said, "Gladio," and started walking to the right, toward the power plant.

Gladio fell into step with him. "Hand over the drugs."

 _They're not drugs_ , he also swallowed back down as well. He supposed they were. But: "I need them."

Gladio huffed. "Hand them over or I take them off you, and right now I'm not feeling like pulling my punches just cause you're blind."

Ignis sucked in a breath through his nose, anger threading through his exhaustion. "As if I'd ever want you to coddle me."

"Figured." Gladio's step faltered for a moment, then caught up. "That's why I know you'll give me the bottle. You know as well as I do that you can't do your job like this."

"You – " Ignis started, and he had to stop walking because his head was whirling all of a sudden. " _No one_ can do my job. You never offered to drive once," he said, shame making him lash out even though, Astrals, the last thing he wanted was to push Gladio away. "And I full well know why – but still. You never did, and some days, or nights I should say, I was the only one awake in the car, watching out for daemons. You left us in Caem, to go do something that I found out only later might easily have killed you. And I had to guard Noct from Ardyn, and mercenaries, as well as all the usual joys of a dungeon. Something had to give. And... I did. I gave all I had, but it wasn't enough."

"You should have said." Gladio sounded frustrated, which ripped at Ignis' heart. He didn't want Gladio to understand, he wanted him to be angry so they could just get this over with.

"You should have noticed." Ignis' voice cracked ominously on the last word, and he clamped his mouth shut, refusing to let his weakness gain the upper hand. He wanted judgment, not pity: something clean and decisive, not further ignominy. He pulled the bottle out of his pocket and held it out.

Gladio's fingers brushed over his as he took it, and Ignis fought an urge to grab – at Gladio, at the bottle, at anything because he'd been drowning so long he wasn't sure he knew how to breathe on his own.

He wanted to ask Gladio if he'd ruined things between them as well; he supposed he had. They walked in silence, Gladio slowing down as Ignis flagged, all the way back to the hunter outpost. 

As they made their way up the last hill, Gladio heaved out a sigh and said, "I'm sorry."

Ignis, who'd been stumbling along in a daze, looked over at him sharply before he recalled he couldn't see Gladio any more. "You've nothing to be sorry for."

A hand landed on his shoulder, pulling him to a stop, and then Gladio slid his while arm across to drap over his shoulders, tugging Ignis in to rest against his side. He didn't say anything more, and Ignis slowly let himself relax, leaning against Gladio and borrowing some of his solid strength to stave off the darkness.


End file.
